BUFFALO, N.Y. — CSX Transportation will lay off 19 employees from its mechanical department at the Frontier Yard off Broadway, citing the slow economy, the Buffalo News reported.
The layoffs will leave 46 people working in the department, said Robert Sullivan, a CSX spokesman.
Workers in the department inspect trains before they leave the yard and make repairs. Sullivan stressed that the reductions will not compromise the railroad’s safety standards at the yard.
“There will be absolutely no negative impact at all on the safety of our operations,” he said.
The employees were notified on Tuesday, and the layoffs go into effect next Tuesday.
“Obviously, our hope is that at some point the economy comes back and we’re able to bring those people back to work,” Sullivan said. “From our perspective, this is something we always look at as a difficult, painful process.”
A CSX worker who asked not to be identified said employees were aware that there was less activity at the yard and had wondered whether layoffs were coming. The president of Transport Workers Union Local 2020, which represents the affected workers, was not available to comment.
Sullivan said despite these layoffs, CSX remains committed to expanding in the Buffalo area. Railroad officials recently said they’re planning a $6 million expansion to turn CSX’s intermodal yard off William Street in Buffalo into an “inland port” for the Port of New York & New Jersey.
The expanded yard would become a hub for breaking down large shipping containers into truck size shipments bound for other cities.
The railroad is seeking state financial support for the expansion. CSX is already relocating its transflo terminal, which processes fertilizers and other bulk goods, from William Street to the Black Rock neighborhood.